At 11:15 PM, in the hospital guesthouse across from the north gate of the PLA General Hospital.

Yu Suye swiped her keycard to open the door to Room 706, then stepped inside and inserted the card into the slot on the wall.

As the room powered on, the lights immediately flickered to life.

Right behind Yu Suye, Yu Chuanbai, his face glistening with sweat, rushed past her and into the room with the sleeping Yan Feifan on his back. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Yu Chuanbai’s steps were rushed.

The swaying body of Yan Feifan on his back began to slide to one side, his head about to collide with the wall.

With quick reflexes, Yu Suye darted to the side and extended an arm, cupping Yan Feifan’s head with her hand.

"Brother, be careful! Don’t let Feifan’s head hit anything."

Yu Chuanbai held his breath, struggled for another two or three steps to the bedside, and then, with all his remaining strength, dropped Yan Feifan onto the large bed.

Afterward, he bent over, gasping for air.

The sweat covering Yu Chuanbai’s face gathered at the tip of his nose and dripped onto the room’s carpet.

A moment later, a damp towel appeared before his eyes.

He took the damp towel, wiped his face, and forced himself to stand up straight. He explained to Yan Ziruo, who stood before him, "Uh... I’ve been really busy with work lately, so I’ve been exercising less."

"And it’s so hot today..."

Yan Ziruo smiled faintly. "No need to explain."

"Even a fitness guru would be wiped out after carrying a guy as heavy as Feifan for a hundred or two hundred meters on a day this hot."

"You did great."

Yu Chuanbai chuckled, then saw that his sister had already straightened Yan Feifan’s body on the bed, adjusted his pillow, taken off his shoes and socks, and was now wiping his face with a towel.

The way Yu Suye held the towel, so gentle and careful...

Seeing this made Yu Chuanbai feel a little disgruntled.

’He’d never seen his sister take care of him with such tenderness and care. That punk is getting off easy.’

Yu Chuanbai shifted his gaze back to Yan Ziruo and, trying to make conversation, said, "Looks like Feifan was really exhausted today. He fell asleep right in the middle of dinner."

Yan Ziruo hummed in agreement and sighed softly. "Feifan holds himself to a very high standard. He strives to do his absolute best for every patient, so the physical and mental toll is always immense."

She turned her gaze to her brother on the bed and said with heartache, "He had that terrible scare this morning, followed by three back-to-back surgeries this afternoon, and then this emergency operation tonight..."

"His constitution is already weak, and now he’s pushed himself to the absolute limit, both physically and mentally... sigh..."

Yu Chuanbai remarked thoughtfully, "That dedication, that pursuit of perfection... it must be one of the main reasons Feifan has achieved so much at such a young age."

Yan Ziruo gave a faint, slightly smug smile. "The main reason is that my Feifan is just exceptionally brilliant."

Yu Chuanbai laughed in agreement. "That’s true, too."

"There’s never a shortage of people who burn the midnight oil, but those who also possess true intelligence and talent are few and far between."

After a pause, Yu Chuanbai changed the subject. "I’ve decided to move to Binhai. I’ll be handling the work handover this week."

"If all goes to plan, I’ll be heading to Binhai this weekend."

Yan Ziruo let out a happy "Oh!" then asked with concern, "What about your family and your girlfriend?"

Yu Chuanbai said happily, "Given the circumstances, my grandfather and father couldn’t really disagree, even if they wanted to."

"As for my girlfriend, she’s completely supportive. She even said I should’ve made this decision a long time ago."

"She loves Binhai, too."

"She said that once I’m a little more settled, she’s going to move to Binhai to build her career there too..."

After chatting for a bit, Yu Chuanbai had mostly recovered his breath.

He saw that his sister had finished wiping Yan Feifan’s face, hands, and even his feet, so he asked, "Su Ye, are you sure you don’t need me to come with you to see that Lu Yao kid tomorrow?"

Yu Suye shook her head. "We’re sure. It’s not necessary."

"We’ll just give him a gift to show our gratitude, exchange a few pleasantries, and then we’ll say our goodbyes and head back to Binhai."

"Brother, it’s getting late. You should get going."

Yu Chuanbai nodded, made a ’call me’ gesture, and said, "Ziruo, Su Ye, I’ll head out then."

"If anything comes up, give me a call..."

After Yu Chuanbai left, Yan Ziruo looked at her brother, who was fast asleep on the bed but still fully clothed. "Su Ye," she began, "Feifan’s been working all day. He must have sweat a lot."

"You should give him a wipe-down. He’ll sleep more comfortably that way."

"Sis, you want me to give him a sponge bath?" Yu Suye looked utterly stunned, her face a picture of disbelief.

Yan Ziruo rolled her eyes at her and snorted. "What? Are you getting shy now? Feeling embarrassed?"

"Su Ye, this isn’t the first time I’ve found strands of your long hair on Feifan’s bed."

"And you’re still going to pretend with me?"

Having been called out, Yu Suye wasn’t particularly embarrassed.

She just chuckled awkwardly and took charge, saying, "Sis, just leave Feifan’s care to me."

"You go on to the other room and get some proper rest..."

「The next morning」

Having rested for a night, a fully recharged Yan Feifan had just finished breakfast at the guesthouse with his sister and Yu Suye when Liu Jiang arrived to pick them up in a Cadillac minivan.

"Mr. Yan, about that patient from last night...?"

Unable to contain his curiosity, Liu Jiang asked, but then quickly added, "If it’s confidential, Mr. Yan, please don’t say anything."

Yan Feifan chuckled lightly. "It’s not confidential."

"Mr. Qin messaged me early this morning. He said the surgery from last night finished around 6 AM, and the tumor resection went very smoothly."

"However, a major cranial surgery like this comes with a lot of unknown risks, so the patient will need to remain in the ICU for a few days."

"As for when they might wake up, that’s even harder to say."

Liu Jiang offered a compliment. "With you involved in the surgery, Mr. Yan, it must be blessed by a lucky star. I’m sure the patient will wake up in no time."

He then continued, "Mr. Yan, I also brought some gifts that Mr. Yu prepared for your visit."

"Mr. Yu asked you to see if they are suitable."

In the open trunk of the van, the Yan siblings and Yu Suye saw a bouquet of flowers, a gourmet fruit basket, and even high-end health supplements like sea cucumber, deer antler, American ginseng, and lucidum spore powder.

Yan Feifan said politely, "We’re the ones paying a visit, yet Mr. Yu went to the expense of preparing gifts. That’s really too much."

"I should be the one paying for these."

Liu Jiang chuckled. "Mr. Yan, our director figured you would insist on paying for them yourself."

"He said that if you find these gifts suitable, their cost will simply be deducted from your surgical fee."

This...

Yan Feifan was frustrated.

He was just being polite, but he didn’t expect them to take him at his word.

These high-end supplements looked very expensive with their fancy packaging; they had to cost tens of thousands, at least. This basically meant his entire trip to Jingcheng was for nothing.

Unwilling to accept it, Yan Feifan argued, "Lu Yao’s palm was just pierced. There was no damage to the bones or tendons. It’s a minor injury, at worst."

"He’s young and will recover quickly. He doesn’t need all these fancy supplements."

"Why don’t we follow the ’like cures like’ principle and just buy him a dozen pig’s trotters instead?"

This "sensible" suggestion from Yan Feifan only earned him two simultaneous eye-rolls from Yan Ziruo and Yu Suye.

Liu Jiang had also found out for them that Lu Yao was not staying in the city proper, but at the Lu Family’s villa in the Central Villa District, one of Jingcheng’s most famous residential areas.

Liu Jiang drove Yan Feifan and the others onto the elevated highway, heading straight for the Central Villa District...